Haunting of Hill House Review

Well hot damn. I just finished that hot new Netflix TV show and I have feelings about it. So let’s get to it?

Also this is a spoiler-free review (Above the Read More Line that hopefully doesn’t disappear)

1. Supernatural or psychological or metaphorical in someway? Supernatural, although a lot of it does seem metaphorical, but it the haunt is, for all intents and purposes, real.

2. How scary was it? It’s not entirely a horror show. It is also a family drama. That being said, when it does get scary, it gets scary. Like an 9/10 for for scares overall. That being said, maybe the fifth episode gets a 10/10 for scares.

3. Jump scares or nah? Yeah there are maybe between 0 and 3 jump scares per episode. There are unsettling moments that aren’t jump scares, but help build up the terror.

4. Is there blood and gore? I don’t think so. There is some body horror though.

5. On a scale of 1 – 10 (10 being Alien: Covenant), how dumb were the characters? Characters in good tv shows tend to have a lot more depth than characters in movies, so they tend to be not as dumb. A lot of the dumb things characters do in horror movies come from withholding information or seeking out trouble. When the characters do things such as that in a show like this, there’s a fleshed out reason behind it. That being said, 3/10, so fairly smart.

6. Does that story make logical sense if you think about it too long? I like to think so, although I’m trying to piece a few loose ends together.

Fuck this is a good show. The acting is fantastic, the characters are fully realized humans, the story is poetic, and every fame is gorgeous. It’s a sprawling story, especially for a horror story, and it does dive into the personal lives of the characters, but I think that adds a lot and compliments the horror aspect very well. It’s more than a new look into a classic haunted house story, it’s a deep dive into the haunted house genre that breaths in fresh air. The way the haunted house has followed the family through decades and affected their personal lives and the dynamics between them is exceptionally well thought out. After much deliberation, I have to say Luke is my favorite character, although I’m also partial to Nell and Theo and Hugh. The acting really is out of this world. One performance I’d like to highlight is Carla Guigino as the late mother. Her radical change from the beginning of the series to the final episode feels so organic.

I highly recommend this show, although do a little bit of research on it if you have triggers. There is a bit about mental illness, addiction, and trauma.